Liu Xuan decided to climb to the mountaintop and take a look. Since he was already here, going the extra step wouldn’t hurt.
He took the token with him and made a circuit through the fortress. Before long, he found a path at the rear leading to the mountaintop.
Although the path had fallen into disrepair and was choked with weeds, it was clear that it had once been quite wide.
It had probably been built by the shamans to perform rituals for the Eagle Spirit, and had nothing to do with the Hamovi deserters.
In fact, after the deserters arrived, they had simply abandoned the latter half of the path.
Many totem poles lay scattered along the roadside. Some had toppled to the ground, while others were still standing, though all of them were covered in cracks and moss.
After walking for about ten minutes, Liu Xuan finally reached the mountaintop.
There was no vegetation up here. The mountain’s bare stone had been deliberately shaved flat to create a platform—or a sacrificial altar, to be more precise.
It was over ten meters long and wide, with a ring of stone tablets standing around it, some tall and some short.
The tablets had been carved to resemble mountain ranges. Their surfaces were painted with blue images of eagles, making it look as though the birds were perched upon the mountains.
At the very center of the altar was a bird’s nest made from dried grass and branches.
It looked tattered and worn, but its basic shape had survived, and it could still be recognized as a bird’s nest.
After thinking it over, Liu Xuan stepped forward and placed the token inside.
A moment later, he suddenly felt a mighty eagle’s cry resound throughout the heavens and earth.
The token then rose into the air, and the illusory figure of a majestic eagle appeared overhead. The token had become part of one of its talons.
The phantom circled through the air several times before beginning to fly around the altar.
As it passed by, the token serving as its talon repeatedly swept across the surrounding stone tablets, as though it were imbuing them with life. Every eagle painted on the tablets came alive.
One after another, they landed on the stone tablets shaped like mountain peaks, their sharp gazes fixed on Liu Xuan in the center of the altar.
They looked just like the spirit form: their bodies were translucent and blue.
Once every eagle on the stone tablets had been revived, the Eagle Spirit formed from the token also descended onto the tallest stone tablet.
A notification appeared before Liu Xuan:
“Next, evade the attacks of the Eagle Spirit Envoys. The longer you go without being injured, the more powerful the inheritance passive you will receive.”
Evade attacks?
Liu Xuan glanced at the eagles perched on the surrounding stone tablets. These creatures were probably quite high-leveled, weren’t they?
And they clearly specialized in agility. Would his speed be enough?
As he looked them over, he suddenly realized that his Eye of Insight had activated.
He could actually see the attributes of the Eagle Spirit Envoys!
[Eagle Spirit Envoy (Special)]
Level: —
HP: —
Skill: [Pounce] Attacks an enemy at extremely high speed. If it hits, the ritual will end immediately.
These creatures were special entities. As a type of spirit, they had neither levels nor HP.
Strictly speaking, they were not living creatures at all.
Perhaps they were merely a portion of the energy split off from the so-called Eagle Spirit.
Liu Xuan honestly had no idea whether he could evade their attacks. But after seeing their status panels, a sudden flash of inspiration crossed his mind.
Their attack was represented as a skill. Could he use [Heavenly One] to cancel it out directly?
The skill description said, “If it hits, the ritual will end immediately.” If [Heavenly One] predicted success, it could directly “ignore this skill.”
If the skill couldn’t even be activated, how could it hit him?
With that thought, Liu Xuan held [Heavenly One] before him and prepared himself for the trial.
The Eagle Spirit Avatar carrying the token let out a sharp cry, and the surrounding Eagle Spirit Envoys sprang into action.
Fortunately, they did not attack all at once.
Behind Liu Xuan, an Eagle Spirit Envoy took flight from its stone tablet and suddenly dove toward him.
“So fast!”
Liu Xuan knew at a glance that it would be difficult for him to dodge.
He estimated that the creature had at least 80 points of Agility. He currently had only 69, and even the five attribute points he had gained from leveling up were not enough.
Fortunately, he still had [Heavenly One].
Liu Xuan silently thought, “Pounce.”
Halfway through its flight, the Eagle Spirit Envoy’s skill was directly nullified. It froze in midair, seemingly baffled.
Its eyes even seemed to say: What just happened?
Two seconds later, it began flapping its wings again and foolishly flew back to its stone tablet.
Liu Xuan was overjoyed. It really worked!
And [Heavenly One]’s counter had increased by one!
Just then, another Eagle Spirit Envoy launched an attack. Liu Xuan silently thought, “Pounce” once more.
“Pounce!”
“Pounce!”
“Pounce!”
One Eagle Spirit Envoy after another had its attack neutralized. Liu Xuan noticed that as time passed, the difficulty gradually increased. Before long, two and then three attacked him simultaneously.
Every time he felt that “dodging” them was no trouble at all, the Eagle Spirit Avatar would let out a cry, and the number of Eagle Spirit Envoys would increase.
At this rate, wouldn’t every envoy on the field eventually attack him together?
The thought alone made Liu Xuan’s scalp tingle.
He might not be able to withstand that kind of situation.
Fortunately, the ritual was not quite that unreasonable. Once ten envoys were attacking him at the same time and still unable to do anything, the Eagle Spirit Avatar let out a sharp cry—but this time, it did not increase their numbers. Instead, all the envoys returned to their respective positions.
The Eagle Spirit Avatar looked down at Liu Xuan from atop its stone tablet. Liu Xuan had the distinct feeling that its gaze lingered mostly on his shield. There even seemed to be a hint of something indescribable in its eyes.
“Don’t tell me it’s angry?”
Liu Xuan hurriedly put the shield back into his pack and flashed the Eagle Spirit Avatar two rows of pearly white teeth.
Fortunately, the other party ultimately chose not to pursue the matter. A notification sounded in Liu Xuan’s ears.
[You have completed the Eagle Spirit’s trial at the highest difficulty, earning the highest-grade inheritance passive.]
[You have obtained the passive skill: Eagle Spirit’s Protection]
[Eagle Spirit’s Protection: Gain an S-grade Eagle Spirit Companion to assist you in battle.]
Hmm? An Eagle Spirit Companion?
Was it a pet?
As Liu Xuan wondered about this, an Eagle Spirit Envoy took flight from one of the stone tablets. It circled above Liu Xuan’s head as blue motes of light gradually appeared around its body and continuously merged into its translucent form.
Once the motes of light vanished, a dignified, majestic spirit eagle slowly descended onto Liu Xuan’s shoulder.
[Eagle Spirit Companion]
Grade: S
Agility: 10 (Whenever the owner gains 1 point of Agility, this companion gains 1 × 200% points of Agility.)
Attack Power: Agility × 3
Liu Xuan gave it a rough look-over. The longer he had endured during the ritual, the better his performance had been, and the stronger the Eagle Spirit Companion he received.
As for what made it powerful, that came down to its Agility multiplier.
With an S-grade Eagle Spirit Companion, every point of Agility its owner gained would grant it double that amount.
If it were a lower-grade companion, such as a D-grade one, the owner might gain 1 point while the companion gained only 0.1.
The difference in damage would be enormous.
For an S-grade companion, every 1 point Liu Xuan added to his Agility would increase its attack power by 6 points. For a C-grade companion, the increase would be only 0.3.
That was a full twentyfold difference.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
nce】【Lighthearted Comedy】【Ultimate Gentleman's Novel】【Viewer Discretion Advised for Under 16】 The mightiest human hero, Sharen Morian, is resurrected after a thousand years by his wife—the Demon King. This is not your typical hero-vs-demon-king tale.
